The 2026 New England Patriots are looking to duplicate their success from a season ago. There are two things I’m looking for in this upcoming season. Let’s dive deep into what they are.
The 2026 Patriots hope their young quarterback, Drake Maye, can pick up where he left off in the 2025 season. Maye finished with 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions with a 113.5 passer rating, which was good for best in the league. The quarterback also finished second in MVP voting to Matthew Stafford.
Despite the great season, some skepticism emerged after the way Maye ended his 2025-2026 campaign. In his four playoff games, he completed just 58.3% of his passes for 828 yards and had six touchdowns to four interceptions. The second-year player had seven total fumbles and lost four of them.
It was a significant drop-off from the regular season production. In fairness, Maye played against a gauntlet of defenses. The 23-year-old faced the Los Angeles Chargers, the Houston Texans, the Denver Broncos, and the Seattle Seahawks. All of them were top 10 passing defenses that year.
Great quarterbacks, however, are expected to be the difference against those staunch defenses. Maybe only had a passer rating north of 90 just once in that span. Maye was sub-80 in two of the games and threw for less than 100 yards in the AFC Championship game.
Is that a product of Maye’s lack of playoff experience, or does he struggle against stiff competition? The struggles were hinted at in the regular season as well. When facing teams with a winning record, Maye had 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions on 64% completion with a 91 passer rating and -6.6 EPA.
Those numbers are regular season and postseason. It’ll be interesting to see how Maye handles a first-place schedule next year.
The opening four weeks for the 2026 Patriots are brutal. They begin the season in a Super Bowl rematch in Seattle. Then host the Pittsburgh Steelers, who still have Aaron Rodgers. Then the the next two games are on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills.
It’s paramount that New England starts the season at least 2-2. A 1-3 or -4 start can start some unfair storylines. One example being Mike Vrabel. The head coach had an eventful offseason with the off-the-field issues that first emerged in April.
The story caught even more fire when Vrabel missed Day 3 of draft night for “personal reasons”. The spotlight since then has shined away from the coach, but if the team struggles right off the gate, the questions will begin.
Is Vrabel fit to lead this team still? Is he 100% focused on the season? Those types of questions will arise during a 0-4 or 1-3 start.
It may seem unfair because starting 1-3 against that opening bunch can purely just be football related. In today’s world where everyone wants a good story, it could be looked at as something bigger.
The 2026 Patriots have high expectations heading into the season. Something this franchise didn’t have to deal with since 2019, coming off their Super Bowl 53 victory.
New England may have been one of the most scrutinized 14 win teams in NFL history. Many critics point out the weak 2025 schedule for the team’s success and Maye’s MVP campaign.
With the Pats having the sixth-hardest schedule, Maye and company have a good opportunity to silence those critics.
That won’t be easy coming off a Super Bowl loss. The “Super Bowl hangover” is a real phenomena. In the last decade, five teams that lost the Super Bowl failed to make the postseason. The Patriots look to avoid that.
How many games do you think the Patriots will win this season? Will Maye have another great season or will he take a step back?
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